Maternity Clothes: Wear them all the time, and I just bought a few more for when I go back to work this fall. Maternity PJs might be next on the to-be-purchased list. Unless…maybe I can raid Michael's old T-shirts and find one to wear to bed?

Baby-related Purchases: My mom and grandmother took me to the Tanger outlets in Commerce where they happen to have a Carter's outlet store. I bought 4 outfits for our little girl to wear next summer for only $15. One of them has a smiling crab on the butt of the outfit.

Movement: She moves all the time. And not just in the gentle "I'm enjoying this amniotic fluid" float I expected just a few short weeks ago. It's as if she's preparing to be a Rockette or a female Jackie Chan.

Sleep: I'm trying to stay awake later (until 11:00, sometimes midnight) so that I'm not waking up at an hour that even a rooster would deem early. It seems to help somewhat, but it makes me want to sleep until 8:00am. This will not do when school starts back.

Belly Button In or Out: It can't make up it's mind.

What I Miss: Shopping for normal-sized clothes. Whenever I see a pair of jeans on sale or a nice shirt that I would buy for work--and they just happen to be my pre-pregnancy size--I have to remind myself to wait until after the baby. It's not that far off. I guess it's just more exasperating now since I'm getting big enough that I don't fit into the oversized clothes I already had, and I'm starting to get uncomfortable.

Cravings: Still no stand-out cravings, but I'm eating a minimum of 4 meals a day, plus 2-3 snacks in between. It's not largely different from the eating patterns before I got pregnant where I ate 3 squares plus snacks, but the calories seem to "stick" a little more than before. This is why I need more physical activity than I'm already getting.

Symptoms:

I now see how extra weight on the body affects your joints, back, and feet. I'm moving at a pace a bit slower than before, and it doesn't take long to feel achy in these areas. I must return to my pre-pregnancy size so I can move without this pain!

Pregnancy brain. It's real, folks.

Sweaty. All the time. Thanks to my friend, Julie, her idea of using baby powder in the undergarments is greatly helping with this. Yeah, baby powder. Saving me, one sweaty boob at a time.

Reaching around for an item that may be behind me is pretty much impossible now. When you don't have a waist, you don't have a pivot point.

Fatigue, as always. Short naps help.

Managing the Stress: I worked out in the yard a little more this past week. I also completed the nursery paintings (as posted in the last blog entry). I always forget how much fun crafty projects can be. Last night, I took a relaxing candlelit bath (don't worry--it wasn't too hot, nor did I use bubbles) while I read a good book. I also want to go back to the pool. Julie had me over for a couple of visits to their pool the week before, where I got to float on my belly in the pool. It was heaven to be on my stomach for once!

Worries: Going into labor way too early. I don't think a week or two early would scare me too much, but several weeks early? Even Michael expressed concern about it the other day with: "You know, if she were to come now, she's considered 'viable'. She has all the parts she needs, even though they're not completely developed. One way or another, we will be delivering an actual baby." He's right. She's no longer an unrecognizable nugget on the sonogram screen. Baby Nerd has arms, legs, internal organs, blinking eyes, fingernails, and layers of fat. Something in my gut tells me she will be an early arriver, but we're hoping that she won't be too much so.

What I Look Forward To: I cannot wait to hold her. All the other mommy stuff will follow, but I am really looking forward to the first time where I can actually have my arms and hands around her tiny, wrinkly body!

Celebrations:

I enjoyed a Sunday supper at my grandparents' house over the weekend after a spend-the-night at my house with my mom (Michael was in Dublin attending a wake). All the family wanted to talk about was their future great-granddaughter while we dined on country fried steak and corn on the cob. I love that they are so excited about her arrival. They referred to her by her middle name, Olivia. She's going to have to get used to being called many names and variations on her name.

It took 20 months to get pregnant, and now we're down to double digits in days left in our pregnancy. Whoa.

Quote of the Week: As we're sitting around the table at my grandparents house enjoying our meal, my grandmother reaches over, pats me on the belly, and says, "Just look at this!" I smiled, enjoying the attention my pumpkin belly was receiving. Then, my grandmother reaches a little higher, gives my left breast a slight jiggle, and says, "And look at these!" I can't even begin to imagine what must have been going through my grandfather's mind after witnessing that!

2 comments:

LMAO! The last little moment had me rolling! My mom's mom was a bit...grabby...too. But you didn't have to be pregnant to get a booby-grab from dear Grandma. Just having the jugs was good enough for her. I distinctly remember one time when one of my less-endowed female cousins showed off how her brand-new water bra made her look more busty in her favorite sweater...our grandma reached right over and gave her a squeeze! And then, to make it worse, she used her crazy cat-like reflexes to reach over to me and gave me a squeeze as comparison. I was mortified. Especially since I was 18. Lol. Oh, grandmas. What exactly does go through their minds?

Have y'all made a decision whether she'll be referred to by Mallory or Olivia yet? Oh man, I just can't wait to see your first pictures of you snuggling her! :) She's already so loved. What a lucky girl!

Gotta love grandmas, huh? They can go from prim and proper to "just one of the girls" in 3.2 seconds.

Michael and I seem to be referring to our daughter as Mallory more than Olivia, but I'll probably be the one who uses both interchangeably. Just as long as she turns her head whenever either name is called out, we should be fine. Hope you are doing well out in AL, friend!